Bill Text: NY S03254 | 2013-2014 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Requires instruction in physical education in certain elementary and secondary schools.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-29 - PRINT NUMBER 3254A [S03254 Detail]

Download: New_York-2013-S03254-Amended.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                        3254--A
                              2013-2014 Regular Sessions
                                   I N  S E N A T E
                                   January 31, 2013
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
         printed to be committed to the Committee on Education  --  recommitted
         to the Committee on Education in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8
         --  committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
         and recommitted to said committee
       AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring  instruction
         in physical education in certain elementary and secondary schools
         THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section 1. Legislative intent. (i) The legislature  hereby  finds  and
    2  declares that the health and physical activity of its children and youth
    3  are and have been a long-standing health objective of the state. Against
    4  a  background  of  epidemic levels of child obesity, in which at least 1
    5  out of 3 children is now considered overweight or obese, physical educa-
    6  tion has become even more particularly important in the role it plays in
    7  the state's health objectives for its children and youths.
    8    (ii) According to the  Centers  for  Disease  Control  and  Prevention
    9  (CDC),  the  academic success of America's youth is strongly linked with
   10  their health.   Furthermore, the CDC has  studied  and  documented  that
   11  students  who  engage in sixty minutes or more of physical activity five
   12  or more days per week do better in school. Research also indicates  that
   13  obese  children  and  youth  have  higher  absenteeism and lower reading
   14  proficiency scores than their non-obese peers.
   15    (iii) Although it may be correlation and not causation, many kids  are
   16  spending  less time exercising and more time in front of the TV, comput-
   17  er, or video-game console. And today's busy  families  have  fewer  free
   18  moments  to  prepare  nutritious,  home-cooked  meals. From fast food to
   19  electronics, quick and easy is the reality for many people  in  the  new
   20  millennium.
   21    (iv)  Our  schools  are  uniquely  positioned  to  meet children's and
   22  youth's physical activity needs. Physical education can be  the  corner-
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD06892-03-4
       S. 3254--A                          2
    1  stone  of building healthier student bodies, healthier neighborhoods and
    2  higher achievement. This is true in  physical  education's  role  as  an
    3  integral  part  of  a  school's  instruction,  health education classes,
    4  elementary  and  secondary  school  recess, after-school activity clubs,
    5  intramural or interscholastic programs. Taken together, these  sorts  of
    6  activities can raise children's and youth's self-esteem, physical compe-
    7  tence, and open new careers and activities to them.
    8    (v)  The legislature finds and declares therefore that mandatory phys-
    9  ical education in schools is a key part of protecting the health of  our
   10  children  and youth, the adults into which they will grow, and an impor-
   11  tant tool in preventing the  myriad  diseases  plaguing  New  York  that
   12  derive from child obesity and lack of physical activity.
   13    S  2. Subdivision 5 of section 803 of the education law, as amended by
   14  chapter 118 of the laws of 1957, is amended to read as follows:
   15    5. (A) It shall be the duty of the regents to adopt rules  determining
   16  the  subjects  to  be included in courses of physical education provided
   17  for in this section, the period of instruction in each of such  courses,
   18  the  qualifications of teachers, and the attendance upon such courses of
   19  instruction.
   20    (B) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS SECTION,  THE  REGENTS
   21  SHALL  PROVIDE  IN  ITS  RULES  THAT  THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION INSTRUCTION
   22  REQUIREMENT FOR ALL STUDENTS ENROLLED IN ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL
   23  GRADES IN CITIES WITH A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR MORE  SHALL,  WHERE
   24  FEASIBLE, INCLUDE MANDATORY DAILY PHYSICAL EDUCATION, INCLUDING STUDENTS
   25  WITH  DISABLING  CONDITIONS AND THOSE IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
   26  THE REGENTS SHALL INCLUDE IN ITS RULES THAT STUDENTS  ENROLLED  IN  SUCH
   27  ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS SHALL PARTICIPATE IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION
   28  FOR  A MINIMUM OF ONE HUNDRED FIFTY MINUTES DURING EACH SCHOOL WEEK. THE
   29  REGENTS SHALL PROVIDE FOR A TWO-YEAR PHASE-IN SCHEDULE FOR  DAILY  PHYS-
   30  ICAL EDUCATION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN ITS RULES.
   31    S  3.  This  act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, the
   32  two-year phase-in required by subdivision 5 of section 803 of the educa-
   33  tion law as amended by section two of this act  shall  be  completed  no
   34  later than July 1, 2017.